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In: Homeschooling, Household Management, Nature Table

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but over the Christmas holidays we made some big changes. We moved the table to the breakfast nook and changed the dining room into a schoolroom/playroom. It’s a little crowded at meals, but I’d rather be a tiny bit cramped for a half-hour a day or so than confused and unorganized all day long.

So, this is the erstwhile dining room. The door you see is to the kitchen. The picture on the wall is Our Lady of Good Counsel, one of my favorite representations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and, in my opinion, a particularly good choice for the homeschooling room.  Read more...

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In: Daily Life, Seasons of Joy

You know, I never quote know what to put here. I have two mailing lists: Natural Childhood, where I try to post tips, ideas, recipes–just little things for adding Waldorf-inspired ideas to your life–and feasts and festivals, which is mostly feasts and festivals, LOL! I guess I invisioned this as a place to post day-to-day stuff. But I’ve been trying so hard to stay offline during the day, and by the time night rolls around, I’m really, really tired.

Anyway…  Read more...

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In: Daily Life, Homeschooling

Today was remarkably smooth, especially considering that Michael was home from school. Daddy took Michael to his dentist appointment first thing, and Nicholas went along because he has his first appointment this summer. Katie Grace and I did some main lesson stuff. After snack, we did some cleaning together. We have a good deal of brass in our living room–I know, how Brady Bunch!–and did some good large-muscle polishing.

We read a picture book about Martin Luther King, Jr, although I left out the part where he was assassinated. We focused on being peacemakers today.  Read more...

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In: Daily Life

Ah, the end of the week! We’re still all working on getting healthy. I didn’t go volunteer in Michael’s classroom today and sent my hubby instead. He had a great time. Maybe we’ll take turns!

I missed a midwife appointment last Friday because of my cold, and am going tomorrow instead. I’m really looking forward to some peaceful time alone. I’m a complete introvert, and depend on alone time to recharge my batteries. This makes attachment parenting a little difficult for me, but if I can find the right balance, it all works out.  Read more...

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In: Homeschooling

I was feeling so guilty about not getting back into a rhythm last week like I wanted to, and then I was reading in All Year Round that today is Plough Monday. The Monday after Epiphany, it’s traditionally a day for putting aside the final remnants of Christmas and “putting one’s hand to the plough” and getting to work. We had a lovely day, too.

We’ve changed our dining room into a play/school room (I’m hoping to do pictures eventually) and moved our table to the breakfast nook. It’s so nice to eat where we cook. It’s just cozier.  Read more...

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In: Healing and Health

Ugh! I am feeling so frustrated right now.

On Christmas Eve, Michael began complaining of a sore throat. Christmas day, he had pink eye and a burst eardrum. Boxing Day, he had two pink eyes and two burst ear drums. We had been treating it homeopathically and herbally (mullein drops for the ears before they burst and eyebright compresses for the eyes) but decided to go to a doc. We came home with three prescriptions for antibiotic/steroid eyedrops, oral antibiotics, and eardrops. We filled the eyedrops and skipped the rest.

The next day Michael broke out in hives from the eyedrops.  Read more...